Throwne out his Angle for my proper life,[1]
And with such coozenage;[2] is't not perfect conscience,[3]
[Sidenote: conscience?]
[Sidenote: 120] To quit him with this arme?[4] And is't not to be
damn'd[5]
To let this Canker of our nature come
In further euill.[6]
Hor. It must be shortly knowne to him from England What is the issue of the businesse there.[7]
Ham. It will be short,
[Sidenote: 262] The interim's mine,[8] and a mans life's no more[9]
Then to say one:[10] but I am very sorry good Horatio,
[Sidenote: 245] That to Laertes I forgot my selfe;
For by the image of my Cause, I see
[Sidenote: 262] The Portraiture of his;[11] Ile count his fauours:[12]
[Footnote 1: Here is the charge at length in full against the king—of quality and proof sufficient now, not merely to justify, but to compel action against him.]
[Footnote 2: He was such a fine hypocrite that Hamlet, although he hated and distrusted him, was perplexed as to the possibility of his guilt. His good acting was almost too much for Hamlet himself. This is his 'coozenage.'
After 'coozenage' should come a dash, bringing '—is't not perfect conscience' (is it not absolutely righteous) into closest sequence, almost apposition, with 'Does it not stand me now upon—'.]
[Footnote 3: Here comes in the Quarto, 'Enter a Courtier.' All from this point to 'Peace, who comes heere?' included, is in addition to the Quarto text—not in the Q., that is.]
[Footnote 4: I would here refer my student to the soliloquy—with its sea of troubles, and the taking of arms against it. 123, n. 4.]
[Footnote 5: These three questions: 'Does it not stand me now upon?'—'Is't not perfect conscience?'—'Is't not to be damned?' reveal the whole relation between the inner and outer, the unseen and the seen, the thinking and the acting Hamlet. 'Is not the thing right?—Is it not my duty?—Would not the neglect of it deserve damnation?' He is satisfied.]
[Footnote 6: 'is it not a thing to be damned—to let &c.?' or, 'would it not be to be damned, (to be in a state of damnation, or, to bring damnation on oneself) to let this human cancer, the king, go on to further evil?']